WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Britain struck 18 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, responding to the Iran-backed militia group's recent wave of attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including a missile attack last year Set a cargo ship on fire this week.
American and British warplanes struck sites in eight locations, targeting missiles, launchers, rockets, drones and air defense systems, according to U.S. officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide early details of an ongoing military operation.
This is the fourth time since January 12 that the US and British militaries have conducted a joint operation against the Houthis. But the US also carries out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships. as well as weapons that were prepared to be fired.
The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets took off from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is currently in the Red Sea, officials said.
“The United States will not hesitate to take action when necessary to protect lives and the free flow of commerce on one of the world’s most critical waterways,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. “We will continue to make it clear to the Houthis that they will face the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks.”
The Houthis condemned “US-British aggression” and vowed to continue their military operation in response. “The Yemeni Armed Forces reiterate that they will counter the escalation between the US and the UK with higher quality military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arabian Seas to defend our land, our people and our nation,” it said in a statement.
The US, Britain and other allies said in a statement that “necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets in 8 locations in Yemen,” which included underground storage facilities, radar and a helicopter.
In this satellite image provided by Planet Labs, the Belize-flagged bulk carrier Rubymar is seen in the southern Red Sea near the Bay el-Mandeb Strait following an attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday, April 20. February 2024, oil leaks. Despite a month of US-led airstrikes, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen remain able to launch significant attacks. This week they severely damaged a ship in a crucial strait and apparently shot down an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said RAF Typhoon jets carried out “precision strikes” aimed at weakening Houthi drones and launchers. Shapps said it came after “severe Houthi attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, including against the British MV Islander and the MV Rubymar, which forced the crew to abandon ship.” It is the fourth time Britain has joined US-led attacks.
The strikes are supported by the broader coalition, which includes Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
President Joe Biden and other senior politicians have repeatedly warned that the U.S. will not tolerate Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. But the counterattacks do not appear to diminish the Houthis' campaign against shipping in the region, which the militants say relates to Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Our goal remains to reduce tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, but we will reiterate our warning to the Houthi leadership: We will not hesitate to continue to defend lives and the free flow of trade in the face of ongoing threats.” said the statement on Saturday.
The Houthis have carried out at least 57 attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 19, and the pace has increased in recent days.
“We have certainly seen an increase in attacks by the Houthis over the last 48, 72 hours,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a briefing Thursday. And she acknowledged that the Houthis would not be deterred.
“We never said we wiped out all their abilities,” she told reporters. “We know that the Houthis have a large arsenal. You are very capable. They have sophisticated weapons and that’s because they continue to get them from Iran.”
There have been at least 32 US strikes in Yemen in the last month and a half; Some were carried out with Allied participation. In addition, U.S. warships shot down dozens of incoming missiles, rockets and drones that targeted commercial and other naval vessels.
Earlier on Saturday, the destroyer USS Mason shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile that was fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said, adding that the missile was likely aimed at the U.S.-flagged area moving MS Torm Thor targeted and operated chemical and oil tanker.
The US strikes on the Houthis targeted more than 120 launchers, more than 10 surface-to-air missiles, 40 storage and support buildings, 15 drone storage buildings, more than 20 unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles, as well as several underground storage areas and a few other facilities.
The rebels' supreme leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, announced an “escalation of naval operations” by his forces last week as part of a pressure campaign to end Israel's war against Hamas.
But while the group says the attacks are aimed at stopping that war, the Houthis' targets have become increasingly arbitrary, endangering a vital waterway for shipping cargo and energy from Asia and the Middle East to Europe.
During normal operations, around 400 merchant ships transit the southern Red Sea at any time. While the Houthi attacks actually only hit a small number of ships, the sustained attacks and near misses fired by the U.S. and its allies have prompted shipping companies to reroute their ships from the Red Sea.
Instead, they sent them across Africa via the Cape of Good Hope – a much longer, more expensive and less efficient passage. The threats have also prompted the U.S. and its allies to launch a joint mission in which warships from participating nations will form a protective air defense umbrella for ships traveling between the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
In Thursday's attack in the Gulf of Aden, the Houthis fired two missiles at a Palau-flagged cargo ship called the Islander, according to Central Command. A European naval force in the region said the attack caused a fire and injured a sailor aboard the ship, although the vessel continued its journey.
Central Command launched attacks on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Friday, destroying seven mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that the military said were poised to be launched toward the Red Sea.
Central Command also said Saturday that a Houthi attack on a Belize-flagged ship on Feb. 18 caused a 18-mile-long oil slick. The military warned of the danger of fertilizer leaking from the ship's cargo. The Rubymar, a British-registered and Lebanese-operated cargo ship, was attacked as it passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The missile attack forced the crew to abandon the ship, which was en route to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates. According to a statement from the Central Command, more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer were transported.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing satellite images of the stricken Planet Labs PBC ship, that the ship was spilling oil in the Red Sea.
Yemen's internationally recognized government called on Saturday for other countries and marine conservation organizations to quickly address the oil spill and avert “a significant environmental disaster.”
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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.